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Minor v. Maryland9/13/1988
At issue in this case is the constitutionality of Kevin Claude Minor's sentence of twenty-five years in prison without the possibility of parole under Maryland's habitual
criminal statute. Minor was sentenced pursuant to Md. Code (1957, 1982 Repl.Vol., 1987 Cum.Supp.) Art. 27, § 643B(c), which provides:
Third conviction of crime of violence. -- Any person who (1) has been convicted on two separate occasions of a crime of violence where the convictions do not arise from a single incident, and (2) has served at least one term of confinement in a correctional institution as a result of a conviction of a crime of violence, shall be sentenced, on being convicted a third time of a crime of violence, to imprisonment for the term allowed by law, but, in any event, not less than 25 years. Neither the sentence nor any part of it may be suspended, and the person shall not be eligible for parole except in accordance with the provisions of Article 31B, § 11. A separate occasion shall be considered one in which the second or succeeding offense is committed after there has been a charging document filed for the preceding occasion.
Minor's current conviction for daytime housebreaking represents his fourth conviction for a "crime of violence" in the last ten years. The sentencing judge found that Minor previously had been convicted of burglary and two separate acts of housebreaking. In addition, Minor had served at least one term of confinement in the State prison system.
Minor appealed his sentence to the Court of Special Appeals, and, that court affirmed the lower court in an unreported per curiam opinion. We subsequently granted certiorari to address the important question presented.
We discussed the unique qualities of the Maryland habitual offender statute in Montone v. State, 308 Md. 599, 521 A.2d 720 (1987). Although in that case we were commenting on the operation of § 643B(b), our remarks are equally applicable to § 643B(c). We said:
The Maryland statute requires more than merely "previous" convictions; it requires separate convictions. Moreover, the statute's scope is narrowed by the fact that it requires not only that an individual shall have received separate convictions, but that he shall have been sentenced to, and shall have actually served, [a term] of confinement under the jurisdiction of the correctional system.
Id. at 606, 521 A.2d at 723. (Emphasis supplied).
Section 643B(c) is designed to allow the prosecutor to seek an enhanced punishment against individuals who have demonstrated violent propensities on three distinct occasions. The penological objectives behind the extended incarceration of these individuals are to protect our citizens from violent crime and to expose these criminals to a prolonged rehabilitative process. See Hawkins v. State, 302 Md. 143, 148, 486 A.2d 179, 182 (1985).
Minor argues that his sentence of twenty-five years without parole is cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Articles 16 and 25 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. In particular, Minor asserts that he has never
threatened nor harmed any person during the perpetration of any of his past crimes. Thus, Minor reasons that the legislature has erred in rigidly classifying housebreaking as a crime of violence for purposes of the enhanced punishment statute. Minor maintains that a sentence of twenty-five years without parole is disprop
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